Enlist® + Liberty® Herbicides: Working Together for Tank-mix Flexibility and Top-tier Weed Control
Something went wrong. Please try again later...
The first report of herbicide-resistant weeds was made in the 1950s.1 Since then, there have been more than 515 unique cited cases of herbicide-resistant weeds globally, with 267 species having evolved resistance.2
Paul Butler, Illinois farmer and die-hard user of the Enlist® weed control system, says he can clearly see that the industry has changed in just the last decade.
“When I started farming in 2003, it was all Roundup and atrazine and that did everything. But the weed resistance has developed, and there’s no doubt it’s in our industry now,” he says.
Enlist crops are tolerant to three sites of action: 2,4-D choline, glyphosate and glufosinate. Enlist One® herbicide is a straight-goods 2,4-D choline product that provides ultimate tank-mix flexibility with over 1,700 qualified tank mix partners. Enlist Duo® herbicide is a convenient combination of 2,4-D choline and glyphosate, providing two sites of action postemergence.
Scott Jungman is an Enlist field specialist and serves as the in-field expert for the Enlist weed control system in Iowa. Jungman recommends farmers should always tank-mix Enlist One with an additional site or sites of action for better weed control and to limit potential for weeds to develop resistance.
“We recommend tank-mixing Enlist One with either glyphosate or Liberty herbicide,” he says.
Enlist® + Liberty® herbicides
Tank mixing Enlist One and Liberty® herbicide provides exceptional weed control in situations where high pressure glyphosate-resistant weeds are present, especially Palmer amaranth, waterhemp and kochia. Liberty herbicide is the preferred tank-mix partner with Enlist One herbicide to manage those tough acres.
With a tank mix of Enlist One and Liberty herbicides, growers have two modes of action working together to tackle the same weed without the concern of acidification in the tank. That results in powerful weed control without impacting the inherent near-zero volatility of 2,4-D choline in Enlist One herbicide.
In 2020 field trials, this tank mix dominated waterhemp and Palmer amaranth populations with greater than 90% control of the weeds.3
Butler used Enlist One herbicide with Liberty herbicide on a weedy field last year. He says he was not only satisfied with the results but also thankful to have multiple tank-mix options to help clear the lingering weeds.
“We do tank-mix with Enlist [herbicides] as much as we can,” Butler says. “If we can mix more things or make more modes of action available that we can spray, that’s awesome.”
Enlist One and Enlist Duo are not restricted-use herbicides, meaning they can be applied to Enlist E3® soybeans through the R1 growth stage. Liberty herbicide can only be applied to glufosinate-tolerant soybeans up to the R1 stage. This combination gives growers up to 10 extra days for applications with no calendar cutoff dates.
Other Tank-mix Partners
There are more than 1,700 qualified products — including herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and adjuvants — that can be tank-mixed with Enlist One and applied over the top of soybeans, cotton and corn for broad-spectrum weed control. You also can apply Enlist herbicides preemergence and in burndown — with no plant-back restrictions for Enlist crops.
“I worry about using the same chemistry and having weed resistance built up,” Butler says. “But with the multiple modes of action that I can use with the Enlist system, I’m not so worried about that.”
1Weed Society of America. 2023. Herbicide Resistance. https://wssa.net/wssa/weed/resistance/
2Heap, I. 2023. The International Herbicide-Resistant Weed Database.https://www.weedscience.org/Home.aspx#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%20515%20unique,and%20to%20165%20different%20herbicides.
3Enlist.com. 2023. Take Control of Weeds With Enlist One® and Liberty® Herbicides. https://www.enlist.com/en/tech-topics/enlist-weed-control-tank-mixing/take-control-of-weeds-enlist-one-and-liberty-herbicides.html
™ ® Enlist, Enlist Duo, Enlist E3 and Enlist One are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. ®Roundup is a trademark of Bayer Group. ®Liberty is a registered trademark of BASF. The transgenic soybean event in Enlist E3® soybeans is jointly developed and owned by Corteva Agriscience and M.S. Technologies L.L.C. Enlist Duo® and Enlist One® herbicides are not registered for sale or use in all states or counties. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your area. Enlist Duo and Enlist One herbicides are the only 2,4-D products authorized for use with Enlist® crops. Consult Enlist herbicide labels for weed species controlled. Always read and follow label directions.